Upper Price Creek Restoration Project

Placement of one of the new, larger culverts.

After several months of planning and getting the appropriate permits, the Luckiamute Watershed Council’s Upper Price Creek Restoration Project was started in July 2016. The project was focused on the replacement of two undersized culverts that were causing an increase in stream velocity, which resulted in streambank erosion downstream. Additionally, channel scouring resulted in the culverts being perched about 2 feet from the streambed, which was a barrier for both adult and juvenile salmonids attempting to migrate upstream. The replacement culverts will be much larger and sunken into the streambed, lowering stream velocity and allowing migratory fish to access upstream portions of their habitat. A second component of the Upper Price Creek Restoration Project is the placing of 180 logs in the stream channel over a 2.4 mile reach. The accumulation of large wood will add complexity to this otherwise simplified channel -- which will help provide valuable fish habitat upstream. The Upper Price Creek Restoration Project is a part of a long-term strategy to facilitate the natural recovery of the Upper Luckiamute River, and facilitate the return of native salmon and trout populations to their historic range throughout the Upper Luckiamute River and its tributaries.

Photo by Steve Trask.

An exciting discovery was made while the crew was capturing fish to be relocated during the excavation process. A juvenile steelhead was found in the pool below one of the old culverts! In the picture to the right, the juvenile steelhead is the uppermost fish, and the other two are juvenile cutthroat trout (notice the red markings that give the cutthroat its name). Not only was the presence of steelhead in the creek unexpected based on the most recent fish surveys, it emphatically demonstrates the need for this project. The new, larger culverts will allow the steelhead, as well as resident cutthroat trout, to navigate to the cooler water and rearing habitat upstream.

﻿​The project was completed using funds from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Meyer Memorial Trust, and contributions from the landowner, Sustainable Growth, LLC; as well as its fund manager, Forest Investment Associates, and its land manager, Green Crow Corporation. The logs placed in the creek were donated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of a nearby oak habitat restoration project. Bio-Surveys LLC and Trask Design and Construction provided the expertise needed to oversee and implement the design and construction of the culvert replacement and large wood installment parts of the project. Total project cost was approximately $232,000.

The new, larger culverts are sunken into the streambed, giving fish access to upstream rearing and spawning habitat

An example of a riparian area that lacks conifers. In addition to placing logs into the stream channel, conifer seedlings will be planted to ensure natural large wood recruitment in the future.

Placing large wood into the stream channel helps slow water velocity and restore the gravels needed for salmonid spawning

​Below is a short video showing the placement of large woody debris into Price Creek. In some areas, historical logging practices had removed large conifers all the way to the water's edge, leaving only alders and shrubby vegetation behind. This type of logging (now prohibited by the Oregon Forest Practices Act) disrupted the natural process of large conifers falling into the creek to create log jams -- which provide pools for habitat and cover for native fish.

Click on the video below to see the careful process of placing large logs into Price Creek!